Spirulina

What is spirulina?

Spirulina ( Arthrospira platensis ) is a cyanobacterium, which grows rapidly by photosynthesis.
About 0.1mm in size, it usually looks like a green filament coiled in a spiral, hence its name.
Spirulina is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the best food for humanity in the 21st century and the most complete because of its nutritional richness.
Its qualities have also been recognized by NASA and the European Space Agency, which have selected it as a staple for long-term space missions.

Spirulina contains:

60-70% protein in a highly digestible form (2x higher than soy and 3x higher than meat or fish). It has a very complete amino acid profile: all 9 essential amino acids and 9 of the 12 non-essential amino acids.
10 to 15% carbohydrates, mainly polysaccharides, easily assimilated and with a low glycemic index. It also contains sulphated polysaccharides such as Calcium-Spirulan (Ca-Sp), with antioxidant, antitumor and antiviral properties.
7% fat, most of it in the form of essential fatty acids. It is particularly rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). It is the second richest source of GLA after breast milk.
Vitamins: beta-carotene, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B12, D, E and K.
Highly assimilable minerals: iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium and phosphorus.
Pigments, the most important of which is phycocyanin, which gives it its blue color and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as chlorophyll and carotenoids such as: alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein.

Powerful health benefits

The health benefits of spirulina have been demonstrated in numerous clinical studies and are mainly linked to the presence of phycocyanin (approximately 20% of its weight), GLA and Ca-Sp:

Antioxidant properties
Anti-inflammatory properties
Antiviral and antibacterial properties
Anticancer properties
Protective properties against heavy metals

Nutritional and Medical Applications of Spirulina Microalgae. Hoseini et al., 2013

Interest of spirulina as a replacement for fishmeal

Spirulina has many advantages for aquaculture, even at low doses:

Improved food intake,
Improved growth and survival rate,
Strengthening the immune system,
Improvement of the color and firmness of the fillets,
Reproduction improvement
Decrease in the use of antibiotics,
Reduction of production costs

The Significance of Spirulina Meal on Fishmeal Replacement in Aquaculture: A Review. Mosha et al., 2019)

Spirulina also has two other important advantages over fishmeal:

Its composition is stable and does not vary according to the categories of fish (or fish waste) used.
It does not contain any heavy metals, whereas fishmeal always contains it, and in more or less high doses.

CO2 absorption

Spirulina absorbs significant amounts of CO2 during its growth: around 60 tonnes per hectare and per year, which gives the possibility of selling carbon credits.